According to a recent study conducted by researchers from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Asians with excessive amounts of visceral fat - the type of fat that surrounds the internal organs - have poorer cognitive performance.
The university stated that this affects their ability to think, learn, and remember, as these individuals performed more poorly on memory, executive function, processing speed, and attention tests.
The study was led by scientists from the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine), in collaboration with scientists from Imperial College London, and analyzed the health data of approximately 8,700 multi-ethnic Singaporeans and permanent residents aged between 30 and 84, collected for the Health for Life in Singapore (HELIOS) study between 2018 and 2021.
The study found that individuals with higher levels of visceral fat mass index, as well as a higher body mass index (BMI) and BMI-adjusted waist-to-hip ratio, tended to have lower cognitive performance.
The findings were published in the April edition of The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific medical journal, and highlight the importance of preventing obesity to maintain cognitive function.
As dementia is projected to affect millions of people in the coming decades, understanding and addressing the determinants of cognitive function is a significant public health priority.
The LKCMedicine scientists are now investigating how excess visceral fat across Asian ethnicities contributes to metabolic traits, which are influenced by genes, lifestyle, and the environment.
They are also studying the impact of metabolic traits on specific areas of cognition. The study is significant as earlier research has shown that metabolic disorders could be risk factors for cognitive decline, but scientists have been less certain that body fat is a risk factor.
Moreover, most earlier studies were conducted on western populations, leaving out Asians who make up 60% of the world's population and whose health and disease are determined by a different combination of factors.
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